It certainly has been a while since I last updated this blog, hasn’t it. I received many kind comments regarding me updating my blog, so thank you to all of you contacted me. Maybe you’ll know why I was gone so long… if I decide to reveal anything in the future.

Anyway, on to the actual blog post!

For February 2016, I read a new book my favorite author 阿賀直己 (Aga Naomi), called ぼくのうさぎちゃん.

But this book is very special to me. Do you know why?

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☆She signed it!☆

I will always treasure this!

I put a fake last name for some odd reason. I didn’t know she would sign my name on it, wow!

The book was about a rabbit that turns into a boy, and Rikuto ends up trying to distance himself and well… its a BL so you can imagine the rest. The characters had such unique personalities and the plot went so well with them that it felt like I was watching a drama. To be quite honest, this book felt really quick and not enough “weight” to the plot like her other books – which is not entirely bad. Being so, I recommend this refreshing and light read for places such as an airport. It literally took me only two days to read it.

I love her books because they are written in simple Japanese, and the stories themselves are so unique.

I want another kitchen and business suit story!

Have you ever gotten your book autographed? If so, by who?

In other news, I also just found that Azealia Banks released “The Big Beat” a few days ago!

It was originally supposed to be released on February 7th. Whenever she delays a song, it usually isn’t up to my standards, but I was completely wrong! It was totally worth the wait. It has been a while since Azealia released a quality dance track. Actually the last time she released a song was in 2014!

The track has an updated 90’s house beat, with fast signature rhymes from Azealia – but halfway through she changers her lyrics that showcase her singing ability by hitting many different notes with broadway vibes before returning back.

Last Friday I recieved two items in the mail that both appeared on the third season of Sailor Moon.

My collection of new and replicated items from the the Infinite Arc

At first I was reluctant to share my treasures on this blog since it appears not many readers enjoy my toy hobby posts, but I thought that they looked so brilliant and exclusive… like real treasures!First up is Neptune’s talisman “Deep Aqua Mirror”.

I originally was not going to purchase this due to the steep price, so I missed out on the pre-orders. Luckily, I found out that Premium Bandai released a second batch of mirrors for pre-ordering.

Even though it is plastic, it is really heavy.

It is such a beautiful talisman… it’s a real mirror too!

Here’s a video to show you the appearance of this talisman. It is one of the most iconic and memorable scenes of the 90’s Sailor Moon anime.

The second item that was delivered was the Proplica Spiral Moon Rod.

There are actually 8 different modes – 4 for regular Sailor Moon attacks and 4 more for Super Sailor Moon attacks. You can view the attacks in the video below.

Compared to the Proplica Cutie Moon Rod, the Proplica Spiral Mood rod has a gorgeous and deep red color for the top focus piece.

It has a sturdy and heavy hold, especially compared to to the Cutie Moon Rod. It is longer and really feels like something Sailor Moon would use herself.

I don’t believe in buying little knick-knacks, which is why I don’t hesitate when it comes to these kinds of items. They look like they almost belong in glass case at a museum!

Because my interlibrary loan came in so late (I only had two days to read it before the due date), I had to skip out on my September book, so this post will be covering the book I read for the month of October.

For October, I read ニアリーイコール written by famous BL novel author 凪良ゆう.

Nagira Yuu’s stories usually never keep my interest (which is why I never really read more than 5 pages), however this one was a bit different I guess. The story line isn’t anything too spectacular – one of those books you read at the airport or if you’re really bored in the summer. A really flat plot like a modern Japanese BL film. In fact, there was almost nothing indistinguishable. I live for BL stories with teachers… and the two main characters were both high school teachers that both carried heavy pasts with them. I feel as though there could have been much more potential to the storyline with such character backgrounds, but I still enjoyed it.

One of the things that did differentiate this book from other BL novels is that that both of the characters were openly gay and the storyline already moved past that part where the characters are like “Wow, I think I like this fellow male homosapien! What is happening to me?!” It was refreshing. Kunitachi even went to the gay bar a couple of times to talk to his friend the bartender.

There were no love scenes (except for one minor one but I skipped those few pages of course), which I really like. Also, what I look for in stories is how realistic they are – the more realistic they are, the more I enjoy reading it. This one was more on the realistic side. I do enjoy stories with fantasy factors as well, though.

And has for my take on the actual plot, I understand that Nii’s parents died… but you have a really cute guy that really likes you and wants to come to your house and bring you convenience store boxed lunches… like are you really going to be that difficult? And Nii has to understand that his relationship with a 20 something year old when he was 17 was just not realistic and he was getting a head of himself. 17 year old brains are not developed. Time to move on, sister!

I also liked how Kunitachi’s sister had her own mini-story towards the end, but why did the author have to wait until the end? It was literally nothing for a hundred pages and then BAM everything happened at once.

The language in the book was super easy to understand, which is perfect for anyone who is new to reading Japanese novels.

View books I have read and ones I plan on reading at my Booklog over here.

Besides my October reading, I wanted to use this post to talk about the new lesbian drama that will be coming out on Fuji TV (no pun intended 😉 )

I think this is HUGE step for Japan – I have always wanted to see a drama that has a homosexual couple in it, and the fact that it is the main focus for the drama is amazing! Not only that, a member from SKE48 is one of the lead characters.

The drama is called トランジットガールズ (Transit Girls). The story is about girls who end up becoming step-sisters after their parents marry who end up falling in love. Apparently the same people who made Terrace House (a popular Japanese reality show). You can read more about it at the Huffington Post. I just don’t like the fact that one of the sisters is 18… and the fact that they’re step-sisters. Age gaps don’t matter to me, but when one of the partners are in high school, there is a whole lot of life-experience differences. Ugh, creepy!

What do y’all think about this? Even though there are a few things that I do not like with the representation of lesbian couples, I think it is pretty awesome – especially since it is being broadcasted on a main channel in Japan. I am curious to how it will be received. I searched up the hashtag #トランジットガールズ, and all the tweets seemed really positive while expressing excitement about the drama.

A couple of weeks ago I ordered レインツリーの国 by 有川浩, and the 2004 Sailor Moon shinsoban short stories volume #1 because I really enjoyed reading the short stories scattered throughout the originial manga and figured it would be a nice addition to my “magical girl” collection. Chibiusa’s stories are so cute – you can even find their anime adaptations (primarily in the Super S seasons).

Anyway, the reason I chose to read レインツリーの国 was because I saw that my favorite actress, 西内まりや, is starring in the movie that will be premiering soon.

I prefer reading books that have a movie/drama counterpart because then I can measure how much I understood from the book. Not only that, it is really cool to see the characters you pictured in your mind come time life!

The book is based on a man and a woman that end up talking online about a something they both have in common – a book series! The book takes place in the 00’s so the whole emailing stranger and meeting them in person was unordinary. The woman, Hitomi, has a secret! But you’ll have to read the book to find out (or watch the movie).

It is a really short book so I reccomend it for people haven’t read a novel in Japanese yet.

Look how small it is!

The plot was ok, but I still feel like there could have been a lot more added to it. Too much drama for nothing, in my opinion. Technically you could have read the first few pages and already know how it would end by the use of foreshadowing.

It was my first time this year reading a romance book not based on homosexual love, haha! Hmmm…..

First was S.H.Figuartsスーパーセーラームーン. Sadly, Super Sailor Moon’s two buns are completely uneven and pointing in two different directions… and her hair is inserted so strangely that it doesn’t look realistic for even a cartoon. I already knew there would be some issues because figma figures didn’t seem to be high quality judging from the pictures I saw on the internet. Nonetheless, I am happy since Super Sailor Moon figures are not widely produced.

Obviously my favorite would have to be Rei chan in her school uniform. She is just too adorable! I have never had figures before, so I think these figures are beautiful ones to start out with. In fact, since I love the school uniform collection so much I have already pre-ordered Mako chan and Minako chan. It is not too often you can find the scouts in their civilian form!

My second package I received was my Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer NFC set from Amazon. This is different than any other animal crossing. Rather than living in a town, you become essential a real estate agent where you get to choose the location of houses, and do the interior designing as well.

I always loved the designing aspect of Animal Crossing, but getting all the items was always such a hassle. I also enjoyed how the game creators designed the houses for the villagers, and always wanted to do it myself.

The video below will show you how cute and detailed the game is. Just a warning though, it is super addicting! I don’t recommend this game for people who like to speed through the normal Animal Crossing games and get 1,000,000 bells in the first week… so annoying! This game is not meant to finish in one day. I feel as though it is supposed to be therapeutic and slow paced – especially The items and lots you can use are completely unlimited!

I was originally not going to order it because I thought the New 3DS was required to play – but that is not the case! You can get a ‘lil NFC machine for a little bit extra that allows people with the old 3DS to use Amiibo figures and cards. I tried it and it works so easily.

It even came with batteries. First time I have heard of a Japanese company including batters, haha!

They say the best part of being a grownup is making your childhood dreams come true! And I cannot argue with that!

I preordered the 2015 remake of the Bandai Cardcaptor Sakura Sealing Wand earlier this year, and it finally arrived. Bandai released this remake in honor of Nakayoshi’s 60th anniversary.

I remember wanting this sealing wand since I first saw Cardcaptors around 2000. Of course, without a developed online shopping environment (and the fact that I was just a child), it was impossible to find Cardcaptor Sakura merchandise in the US.

This is how the box looks. It was huge!

During that time, there was lot of Japanese cartoon exposure in North America, but not enough merchandise to supplement the demand from young consumers. This is because most likely such items released in Japan a few years before the cartoons aired in America, and were no longer in circulation.

As for the actual product itself, it makes a noise when you swing it. Just like how Sakura does it in the cartoon! Aparently the 1999/2004 version was extremely finicky when it came to producing sounds when you swing it. But not this version! It is very responsive to movement.

For the month of July I finished reading 下妻物語, or Kamikaze Girls in English.

I watched the movie a long time ago (as in the 2000s), so I really didn’t remember the story that well. If you don’t know this famous story, it is about a lolita and a yankee and their odd friendship.

As I am typing out this blog post, I am watching the movie! If you enjoy Lindsay Lohan’s “Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen”, you will definitley love this movie. It definiltey has some quirky moments and silly graphics. I think this is due to the fact that both movies were made in 2004 (I would have to say this is one of the golden years for films. Ironically most of the films during that year had a yellow tint, I feel).

It is really cool to see that they used many of the same exact lines from the novel in the film. It is school to see the some of the scenes that played in my head when I read the book to be materialized in the film.

I thought I was not comprehending the book well enough, because externally the friendship did not seem deep. But it is the same in the film. It’s like that Adventure Time vibe where things are not as clear or as serious as they should be – just like when Fin fought the Orgalorg!

Sadly, I would have to say that I enjoyed the film more than the book because it feels more fresh to me. The director did an amazing job! I was constantly checking to see how many more pages I had until the book was over. I don’t need to read 3 pages on a description of a dress. I wonder if I was bored of it because I already watched the movie before, and I already knew the general story.

There are actually very few differences between the book and movie (except for the modeling part that you will have to read in order to find out). If you haven’t watched the movie yet, read the book and then watch the movie! I have watched it in two different decades and still enjoyed it!

I seem to be attracted to stories where we feel as if we’re away from home. But what if sometimes we really are not where we are supposed to be?!